LISTEN: Fiona Coghlan “Honoured and delighted” with Barbarians inclusion

When Fiona Coghlan received the e-mail inviting her to play in the inaugural Women’s Baa Baa’s game in Thomond Park, she knew it was an opportunity she couldn’t say no to.

The former Irish captain hasn’t played rugby since her retirement in 2014 after her side’s eventual fourth place finish at a World Cup where they defeated the Black ferns and with that became the first ever Irish side to be a New Zealand team.

The front row chatted with Sporting Limerick ahead of the fixture, and admitted that it’s hugely exciting for both herself and the womens’ game, due to some of the high profile names featuring for both sides.

“The email came in and I kind of opened it and didn’t think twice it was just, ‘yes, definitely’ and then it sank in that I had to play a game and do a bit of training but hugely honoured and delighted to be a part of it back down in Limerick again its brilliant”

“I think its putting the game out there a little bit more, even more exposure linking it so closely with the mens game. Playing as a curtain raiser is important as well.

“I think the kind of ethos and brand the Barbarians stand for is really important for the women’s game and that kind of club thing, and driving the club and the importance of that is brilliant.”

You can listen to the interview in full on the link below.

The former Women’s All Ireland League champion is no stranger to Limerick having played with UL Bohemians and studies at UL. Coghlan even stayed with the club long after she graduated due to the success she had with them and the structures they had in place for the women’s game.

This Friday she will be going head to head with a few familiar faces from her former club and expects an intense encounter.

“I played with a number of the girls over the years, a few of the girls I haven’t played with but it’s always a good battle, even back in the day I played my club rugby with UL Bohs but provincial with Leinster so it was always a good battle on the pitch between us and I’m sure it’ll be the same tomorrow.”

Coghlan is excited about the prospect of the clash and feels the game has come on leaps and bounds for younger girls starting out on their careers now, compared to when she made her breakthrough.

“I think we’ve seen it in the last couple of years, the number of young girls starting up and previously you couldn’t really play until you went to college or club lever when you’re over 18 but now you’ve girls playing mini’s schools and even the fact that there’s competitions at that level is really encouraging.

“It just means there’s more girls playing at a younger age so their skills set, their development is going to be much higher than we are now after playing 10 years. Some of the girls coming into the game now are playing longer than I played my whole career so that’s hugely exciting.

“It filters always back down to club. I’m indebted to UL and UL bohs  for their vision back in the day to really push forward with the women’s game and they’ve been one of the driving forces in the women’s game in Ireland over the last number of years.”

Reminiscing on her involvment with a UL Bohemians side that dominated the All Ireland League, Coghlan says Robins were the first club to really take female rugby seriously. Because of the investment into the game the college side made, they reeped the rewards and became the most successful club in the country.

UL Bohs had a huge influence on Coghlan and have served Ireland well over the years with numerous internationals. Indeed Bohs account for 17 of the 30 players named in the Munster panel for the groundbreaking game.

“I was there from the start when UL Bohs decided to field a women’s team and from the very start they had a vision that they wanted to be the best in Ireland and they implemented everything they needed to do that.

“We were on par with the men’s team, the standard of coaching we had, we’d everything we needed in order to perform and as a result we won an AIL in the first year and continued in successive years after that.

“I moved back up into Dublin after four years, there wasn’t a question was I going to move club, there wasn’t a club to touch them in the country with the way that they respected the women’s team and what they put around the women’s team so I’d no problem driving up and down the M7 every Wednesday to play with UL Bohs over the next 9 years. It’s a credit to the club and the committee there that they saw it as a growth area of the game and something they could invest in and forge forward“

Munster Women V Barbarians Women kick’s off Friday at 4:45pm in Thomond Park.